A Day At Hogwarts
by C. de la Fere
Summary: MWPP era. The story of a day as seen by the points of view of members from my three favorite families. So far, I have the morning done through the eyes of Alana, Severus, Lucius and Bellatrix.
1. A Pack of Slytherins

**Disclaimer:** As per usual, all but Alana and Sardelle and the Campbell characeters belong to JK Rowlings

**Author's Note:** Just a fanfict on my three favorite families throughout the course of one day at Hogwarts. Set in MWPP era and told from a number of different points of view.

* * *

Bellatrix threw her head back and let out a long, shrill laugh. Severus allowed a small grin to creep upon his features, but nothing more, as Lucius continued to wear the same confidant smile he had worn the entire length of his story. 

"Go on!" exclaimed the girl. She was tall and slender, with noble features, high cheek bones and long, sleek black hair. Like most members of most ancient pureblood families (like the others she was just now talking to) she had an extremely pale complexion, which was a mark of dignity in high society. Heavily lidded with dark eyes, Bellatrix Black was, in a word, beautiful. "What did the other two do? Or should I ask what happened to them instead?"

"Most unfortunately, they ended up running off before they were able to...join their friends," narrated Lucius in a rather amused tone. The sun shone off of his long white hair as the wind picked up the few strands that had managed to escape his loose ponytail. "A shame, to be sure." His dark green eyes narrowed a bit against the sun as his smile lessened a little at having to relive the escape of the two muggles. "However, the ministry most likely stepped in and 'righted' the situation as they always do."

"Pity," she pouted. "They were just as deserving as the others, too."

Lucius turned to face her. "Bella, I've never known anyone to go between such extreme emotions so quickly as you. You can laugh so easily one moment, then look as if you may cry the next."

"Cry!" shouted Bellatrix. "Cry?, I would never cry, dear Lucius, only mourn the lack of good punishment or fun."

"Your use of those two words in such close proximity is just as curious," said Severus. He was much quieter than his two companions, yet heard just as loudly. Brushing his shoulder length, greasy black hair away from his face in frustration at the wind for the hundredth time that day, Severus was able to look straight at Bellatrix with his own cold black eyes and add with a playful sneer, "One might venture to label you mentally unstable."

Lucius gave a small laugh. "He speaks the truth, Bella. In fact, that is almost the perfect word to describe you; 'curious'."

"I like 'mysterious' better. Merlin, I'd settle for 'insane' or, how you so eloquently put it Severus, 'mentally unstable', before I had someone call me 'curious'. And don't you ever call me that again, either of you. I'd make sure you regretted it, mark me." She had a sparkle in her dark eyes, one that rarely left her.

The small pack of Slytherins marched across the Hogwarts grounds, enjoying the last of the summer days, all waiting for autumn to set in. Lucius Malfoy led the group; Bellatrix Black and Severus Snape close in step. Lucius' two body guards, Crabbe and Goyle, flanked them, but never really took part in the conversations held by the three others. They were there to intimidate others into minding their own business, or to pick fights with whatever Gryffindors Lucius decided to sic them on.

"Ooo, Lucius!" taunted Bellatrix being uncharacteristically quiet. Lucius shot her a look that seemed to ask whether or not he should begin to dread what was to come from her next.

"Don't think I didn't see you, staring over at my sister like that, how dare you?" she teased. Lucius had not actually even noticed Narcissia who was all the way over towards the lake, and had to look for her before responding to Bellatrix.

"Bella, I did not even - "

"Don't lie; you were staring today at breakfast as well! I know because I sat with her and your eyes never meandered, even toward your food."

"Stare? I - "

"Yes. Stare." She proclaimed. A wide smile broke across her features as she suddenly circled Lucius like a hawk, creeping behind him until her lips were perched just next to his left ear.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," she whispered loud enough for Severus to hear as well. "Us Black girls are so subject to our parents' lectures on marrying good, able pureblood men. There are so few to choose from, I'm sure that if you asked her out, she'd agree in a heartbeat. Don't think I don't see it in your eyes, and don't you dare deny that you most certainly WERE staring at breakfast!" She ended with another shrill laugh and flew away from Lucius' ear to rest on Severus' shoulder. "You're a witness, aren't you Severus? You'll back me up!, You sat right next to him, after all!"

Severus was fighting back a small fit of laughter, although a broad smile escaped him. He had noticed Lucius staring off in Narcissia's direction quite often as well, although whether he had at breakfast that morning or not was questionable.

"Honestly, Bella, I don't recall his being distracted by your sister at all during breakfast today," Severus started. Lucius smiled at him as a gesture of thanks in siding with him, but Severus continued with Bellatrix's game. "Charms, Potions, Transfiguration and Herbology on the other hand; well, that's a different story."

Lucius' smile faded abruptly as Severus spoke these last words and in a very cool manner replied "I don't know where you two get your absurd ideas from; perhaps it's the two of you who should linger the rest of your days together in a shared 'mentally unstable' state of marital bliss? There's your own pureblood at any rate Bella, although as for the 'good' and 'able' part, well, as he says himself, 'that's a different story'."

A smile returned to Lucius as Severus' smile took its turn to fade. Bellatrix, on the other hand, seemed to find this rather hilarious and broke into another hearty laugh.

"Bellatrix Snape, eh?" She threw herself over-dramatically into Severus' arms. "How does that sounds to you, my love? Can I call you Sev once we're married? Or would you have me poisoned outright for my inheritance?" Bellatrix batted her eyes fast at him and brushed her hair against his shoulder.

Severus tried to push the girl away, very tempted to throw her against the ground for even suggesting such an idea, not to mention for suggesting that nickname.

"If you do not get off of me, perhaps I'll make good on that poisoning suggestion. And no, if you ever call me that, I'll make sure you won't be able to call me anything for the rest of your life."

"Ooo, aren't we sour?" she pouted. "It's too bad, 'Bellatrix Snape', it does have a ring to it."

"You mean the same ring that pounds in your ears after being knocked on your back by the whomping willow?" asked Severus.

"The very same. I quite like that ring, you know. So long as it's not my own ears, that is."

Lucius laughed at this exchange, happy to get the subject off of his apparently sudden obsession with Narcissia; but the sound of him only brought Bellatrix's mind back off of her little tangent. She glanced over at her sister, she was now a bit closer as they had been walking nearer to the lake, and Bellatrix could make out her companion.

"Isn't that Sardelle with her?" asked Bellatrix. "Severus, what is your sister doing out here? Hasn't she buried her nose in her text books already? Seventh year is N.E.W.T. year after all, and we all know how she is when it comes to her grades."

"I would barely expect my cousin flooded with books this early in the year, much less Sardelle," he responded. "Besides, grades don't matter as much to Sardelle as they used to. Not this year, anyway."

"Ahh, yes, you know, sometimes I forget you're even related to that Ravenclaw, as close as you all resemble each other physically," she claimed.

"I would venture to say that your own relation to that Gryffindor boy is much more unrealistic, Bella," countered Lucius. This got a loud groan of complaint accompanied by a string of curses from Bellatrix. "Careful, Bella. A nice little pureblood girl like yourself would not do well to be caught with such a mouth." Lucius chastised. "What would your 'good, able pureblood husband' think?" This, of course, only drew more curses from her.

"Tell me, then Severus," said Lucius. "What has changed so within Sardelle to not make her study as much this year?"

"I'm not sure if she's told anyone yet" Severus started, "but our family views marital bonds between us and other pureblood families with just as much passion as the Blacks. It has been arranged for Sardelle to marry just after she completes this year, so her grades do not really matter as much anymore."

Bellatrix and Lucius both stopped abruptly to turn and look at Severus. Crabbe and Goyle almost bumped into them, but caught themselves just in time.

"An arranged marriage?" repeated Lucius, "To whom?"

"Oh, the poor thing!" exclaimed Bellatrix. "You know, Severus, I have a pretty little hollow ring that I would be more than willing to let her borrow if you would be so kind as to fill it for her after the ceremony. Perhaps in the celebration just after even."

"To a Campbell Viscount," replied Severus. "And poisoning him so early would do no good. Both our grandfather and the Campbell man's father refuse to completely acknowledge the alliance between the two families before an heir is produced.

"No!" the black haired girl gasped. "That's horrible!, Oh, poor, poor Sardelle! Is he at least handsome? Have you met him?"

"None of us have met yet. Not even those two. Only our grandfather and father with the father of the Campbell have met, and that only briefly."

"Well, you have to admit that it is a smart match," said Lucius glancing over at where the two girls sat. "After all, a title in the family, and the Campbell name does have a good reputation. She would assume the title of Viscountess, I assume?"

"For a while," said Severus. "After they marry and have a child, his father promised to give them his rank. They would be Count and Countess."

"Countess," repeated Bellatrix. "Her Excellency, the Countess Sardelle Campbell." She seemed to be reconsidering her earlier words. "Tell me, Severus, does this Viscount have a brother?"

"Not that I am aware of" he replied. "Besides, even if he did and you married him, you would not receive any title at all, it is passed to the eldest child."

"Pity," she said mournfully. "Countess Bellatrix Black. Why do they not just allot a title to all pureblood families?" she asked with a sigh. "There are not that many of us left, after all, so it would not be too many titles to give away. And besides, we could use a bit more recognition. Blood is counting for less and less as time goes on."

"It is sad," said Lucius "But at least we know what we are, and that is really what counts, now isn't it, Bella?"

Bellatrix nodded.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, _gentleman_," she said after a long and thoughtful pause, "I believe I have a date with your sister to attend to Severus. I must find out what I can about this Viscount of hers."

"Wait, Bella -, " but she was already flying across the remaining ground toward Narcessia and Sardelle.

Severus shook his head after her. Lucius gave a smirk.

"She is quite the enchanting creature, isn't she Severus?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" Severus looked at Lucius with his brow knitted and dark eyes surprised.

"You heard me." The older boy stated. "It was quite hard to miss the way you stared after her just now, and -,"

"And it is as unlikely as you and Narcessia," finished Severus for him.

Lucius gave Severus a raised eyebrow. "Then you _do_ fancy her?" he teased.

Severus continued to hold Lucius' gaze. "You know that's absurd, Lucius," he said softly, but both could see deep into the other as they glanced down towards the three girls before continuing across the grounds in relative silence.


	2. The Chatter of the Ravenclaws

**Author's Note:** I decided pattern Alana's sword after the saber that I got at faire last year. Originally, I wanted her to wield something more similar to Gryffindor's sword in CoS, but I don't know how to use one of those as well and decided to go with a weapon I knew how to use better. That will probably make it easier later on when I write about the sword itself and her fighting style.

* * *

The sun shone brightly over the castle. Only a few puffy, white clouds hovered in the blue sky as Alana walked down to the lake with her friend Brook, a fellow Ravenclaw, and an armful of books newly borrowed from the library.

"No, no, no. Supreme Mugwump Ivan Liber presided over the Confederation while the King James V of Stewart held the muggle Scottish throne; so Helena could not have come to power for another fifty years," argued Alana.

"But it was Helena's mother, Louise that initially set the Acts in place. Helena only continued the policy, eventually claiming them as her own," countered Brook.

The two girls continued their debate across the grounds until they were able to find shade under a giant oak tree and consult their texts on the matter. They sat down on the cool grass and heaved the books to the ground with a final huff of effort. The cool air of late summer glided across the lake to play with their long hair and rustle the leaves above.

"Claiming policies of her predecessor" snorted Alana. "Honestly, she sounds like another Catherine 'The Great' if you ask me."

"Catherine who?" asked Brook. "I don't believe I've ever heard of her." Then, after a short pause, "Oh, wait, let me guess, another muggle monarch of yours?" she asked with a grin.

"As a matter of fact, yes. She was Tsar of Russia a long while back, and, in my own opinion, was only responsible for continuing and expanding upon the policies of her predecessor, Tsar Peter the Great," shot Alana with a smirk.

Brook shook her head a bit. "You and your muggle history."

"You and your lack of interest."

"Well, forgive me for studying something a bit more relevant to us."

Alana let out a laugh. "As if history isn't relative to our entire world?"

"Touché," Brook replied and joined in Alana's laughter.

They had both settled down into the grass. All around them students enjoyed the waning summer days. Many sat under similar trees, studying, chatting or playing games while others walked around the grounds. Alana looked thoughtfully through her pile of books and picked out a large, black and gold leather bound one to start reading.

"What's that you've got?" asked Brook. "I didn't see you get that one from the library."

"Actually, I bought this one in Diagon Ally before coming here. You see, I've been saving my money all summer, and even before that..."

"You saved all summer for a book?" gasped Brook. "Oh, let me look at it! It must be truly rare or on some obscure topic!, what is it about?"

"I didn't save for the book itself, although it did set me back quite a bit. I had to get both this year's transfiguration AND potions texts second hand, but oh it was worth it!"

Brook slid next to Alana and gazed at the volume. It was ebony leather with thin, elegant gold writing on the cover. "A Wizard's Guide to the Mastery of Muggle Weapons, Volume 348: The Saber," said Brook, reading the title. "Saber? Alana, are you joking? Wait, then what you've been saving for...?"

"I found the exact one I want!" exclaimed Alana. "It's a real beauty! The blade is a meter long; virtually unbreakable with a leafed vine etched the entire length of it. It's a one handed sword, so I've been building up a bit of muscle in my right arm; the hand guard starts as one strip of metal from the base of the hilt and then separates into smaller strips like the mouth of a river, connecting to the blade!"

"Wherever did you find such a thing? Why would you want one? ... Would your family ever even allow you to own one?" asked a very surprised Brook.

"Well, to tell you the truth," the girl started.

"Ohh, here we go," chastised her friend. "Come, come, Alana, what have you done?"

"I've done nothing! ... Yet at least." She added this last part in a very quilt ridden voice. "So there's no need to get all offensive. Besides, Sardelle's a few years older than I am, and she is going to help me out, so nothing is technically being done illegally."

"Don't act so innocent, Alana. Wanting a weapon, and you're not even of age! Sardelle is actually going to buy it for you? And from where?"

"Well, I am the one paying for it; I'll just have her pick it up for me. As for where..." Alana paused. Brook looked her friend squarely in her eyes.

"Where, Alana?"

"Well, now, don't judge it by where it's from, Brook. After all, many good things come from...disreputable backgrounds. I mean, just look at Mugwump Liber! He was born with a muggle father, and yet he became the most powerful wizard in the Confederation..."

"No excuses, Alana. Where are you getting it from?"

"From an old wizard who deals in muggle weapons and the like. He has a small shop in Knockturn Ally, and"

"Knockturn ally!" exclaimed Brook.

"Shhh. Please, not so loud!" hissed Alana.

"Knockturn Ally!" repeated Brook, only much quieter this time. "What on earth has possessed you to buy ANYTHING from such a place? I mean, who knows what could have been done to that sword! It could be bewitched to kill the owner in her sleep!"

"Well, my Uncle knows the man who is selling it and Sardelle says that Uncle claims him to be an honorable man; at least when it comes to business. And frankly, business is all that matters between him and I; so why should I not trust the sword?"

"I'll say it again Alana, just two words: Knockturn Ally."

Alana shook her head. "I'm still buying the sword, I've made up my mind about it; did so a long time ago. Besides, Sardelle has already told me that she'd do it."

Brook sighed in defeat. She knew Alana to be too stubborn to give up her position when her mind was made up.

"Honestly, Alana," she said. "Sometimes I wonder why you weren't sorted into Gryffindor; you can be so stubborn sometimes."

"Gryffindor?!" Alana let out a burst of laughter. "Brook Clearwater, I am throughly insulted! Why, there hasn't been a Gryffindor in my family since...well, I don't believe there ever has been one. My point being, however, that I would never be the first, and I certainly hope not to see one in my time!" Her eyes shone brightly through this little speech; it had been meant as a jest, but the deep rooted pureblood in her partially believed these words.

"Well, you seem to be a minority in your family anyway," said Brook motioning towards a group of slytherins coming closer across the grounds. They were not more than a few dots dressed in green and black a ways off, but it was easy to tell Lucius Malfoy from a distance; with his long white hair and two hulking body guards, he was not very hard to miss. Alana knew that among the other dots would most likely be her cousin, Severus. He and Lucius were very close friends.

"A minority at the present, perhaps" said Alana, her gaze still on the slowly approaching group, "but we have a long line of Ravenclaws in our family" she finished with a smile. "To tell you the truth, I don't really care much for most Slytherins. I remain surprised to this day that Sardelle is one."

Brook shrugged. "The Sorting Hat knows best, I guess."

"Since when do you 'guess'?" laughed Alana.

Brook shot her a sneer. "Fine. The Sorting Hat simply knows best then" she corrected herself.

The two girls laughed and sank back into their books (Brook was reading one on obscure spells that could produce almost the same effects as many of their standard charms learned in Professor Flitwick's class).


End file.
